What’s killing my turf?!?!

There is a plethora of abiotic causes for poor turfgrass quality, including traffic stress, compaction, improper fertility, incorrect use of pesticides, shade, poor drainage, too much or too little water, high temperature (especially soil temperature), cold injury, and other factors. And all of these issues are one big headache for superintendents who must deal with them on their course’s playing surfaces…Richard Buckley, coordinator of the Plant Diagnostic Laboratory at Rutgers University, believes many researchers and superintendents think of abiotic stress in terms of physical (temperature and moisture extremes), chemical (problems with pesticides, fertilizers, and other plant health care products), and mechanical (traffic, scalping, etc).